Bay City News Service
Prosecutors have filed felony charges against a former Contra Costa County Fire Protection District captain accused of stealing hundreds of items from the fire district while working there.
Jon Wilmot, 51, was charged Wednesday with:
- receiving stolen property,
- embezzlement,
- possession of an assault weapon and
- commercial burglary.
Prosecutors allege that he stole an array of property from firehouses — including firefighting gear, a chainsaw, cooking equipment and sports drinks.
Wilmot, who recently retired, was arrested Dec. 10 after police conducted search warrant operations at his homes in Alamo and Concord and at his mother's home in Orinda, where officers found hundreds of items believed to belong to the fire district, according to an affidavit. He was released from jail the same day after posting $30,000 bail.
The search warrants stemmed from an internal fire district investigation that used surveillance cameras to catch Wilmot allegedly stealing fire district property from a closed fire station in Lafayette.
The investigation was launched last May when a colleague reported seeing a chainsaw, an iron skillet and sports drinks belonging to the fire district in the back of Wilmot's truck, according to the affidavit. Wilmot is set to appear in Contra Costa County Superior Court for arraignment in April, a court clerk said.
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